Red Cherry Shrimp

Author : Efrain Silva

Appearance

“Red Cherry” because it looks like a plump, red cherry? You guessed it. Though it’s not round like a cherry, it’s still bright red and has plenty of meat in it, haha.

But of course, the only thing better than eating one is perhaps owning one. And here in this brief blog, we are going to talk about some things you may need to know when considering getting a Red Cherry Shrimp! This shrimp also comes in brown, orange, green, blue and several other colors (in case you thought red was the only option — but to keep it true to its name, I bought a red one).

Diet

A diet is of the utmost value when it comes to keeping that Red Cherry Shrimp alive and healthy for as long as possible, don’t you agree? And every creature of the aquatic animal kingdom certainly needs to stick to one in order to better survive — in this case, it’s omnivore. Keep in mind that, like all other shrimps, this kind of shrimp tends to scavenge and pick.

It’ll go for whatever it can find. It can eat both meat and plants with no fuss about it, and it definitely knows how to pick small matter and raw meat and reduce its size (so that it may more properly fit in its mouth and be more easily digested as well).

Origins

What are this shrimp’s roots? I’m glad you asked. Every creature came from somewhere…

It started out as a Taiwan freshwater shrimp and remains much so to this day — The people of Taiwan love it. Now, thankfully, we can find this shrimp anywhere it’s on public display or for sale. It belongs both to the Animalia kingdom and the Decapoda order, respectively, and the Atyidae family is likewise proud to have it as one of its members also. Some may also classify this shrimp as the Neocaridina heteropoda or even as the Neocaridina denticulata sinensis.

Roommate Situation

The roommate situation has been analyzed and re - analyzed, time and again, by recent experts, and it’s been found that the Red Cherry Shrimp is quite the introvert. It loves peace and tranquility and will not be the first to throw a punch, so to speak.

However, this fish has very little defense capability, and will often be seen as a quick, easy meal (especially by fish who are not so peace - loving and who are perhaps bigger). Very small Tetras, or very small Plecos, might be a good roommate solution for this small and defenseless sort of shrimp.

Other Facts to Note

You may also want to keep this in mind — if you want to get this shrimp to breed, so that you don’t have to go running back to the pet store to buy more of its kind, it’s simple. Start out with heavily planting the inside of your tank. Leave tons of good plants. Feed your shrimp with lots of proteins regularly, and get your water at 82°F. Doing so will “emulate” summer - time, which is when these guys get busy!